Listening to our Stakeholders - Health Workforce Australia

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10 Listening to our Stakeholders: Analysis of interviews regarding competency-based education and training & competency-based career frameworks. Analyzing views from the HWA Stakeholder Community: Results from the Data The questions which formed the basis of the semi-structured interviews (Annex 2) included a series of questions against which the themes emerging from analysis of the interview data are now reported. Stakeholder understanding of competency concepts Consultations undertaken by the research team highlighted that, albeit varied, concepts related to competency-based education and training were much better understood than those relating to competency-based career frameworks. Understanding also varied between the higher education and VET sectors. Findings highlighted a significant need for further consultation followed by the development and confirmation of an agreed set of terms and definitions to reduce ambiguity and ensure maximum clarity of communication and meaning across HWA and its key stakeholders groups. This is an important underpinning to successful progression of projects within HWA’s competency-related work stream. Understanding of competency-based education & training concepts The interview scripts revealed multiple slants, perspectives and insights into the complexities associated with competency related concepts and competency-based education and training and associated definitions and/or concepts. When questioned about competency-based education and training concepts, and competency concepts in general, a number of informants immediately articulated an active working knowledge and/or familiarity with the Australian VET sector definition of competency along with their understanding of the TAFE use of competence-related terminology. “Well basically, it’s when you’ve got the knowledge, skills and attributes which allow you to do a particular activity or task well.” Participant 8 “Competency-based training involves a set of competency standards (which are set by industry in collaboration with clients/patients) that each student is assessed against to ensure the stand of knowledge, skills and attributes have been achieved.” Participant 7 “In a nutshell, it’s the skills, knowledge and attitude that are needed for a profession and based on standards which the profession sets.” Participant 4 Others espoused a definition which they described as a ‘practical’ working definition of competence, for example: “Well it generally requires you to have a reasonably good understanding of whatever the role is that the person is being trained for and to ensure that they can adequately fulfil their role once their training is complete.” Participant 36 “So generally speaking, I see competence as being able to do whatever it is that you do at a reasonable level.” Participant 49 Others specifically highlighted the view that competence within their discipline or service was much broader than the VET sector definition. Not infrequently, informants held a view that the TAFE definition was skills-based only and that the VET sector utilization of competency-based education and training related only to that which could be directly observed.
11 “Well my understanding of competence within education and training — actually we don’t use it in the TAFE terms of skills … it’s much broader …. it’s the skills, knowledge, values, and our understanding of the competence at the end of training…” Participant 39 Others added additional definitional characteristics including the notion of competence being both skills-based (practical) and conceptually or theoretically-based (cognitive) – with competence including abilities able to be measured and quantified at a specifically designated time. “Competence is the assessment at a point in time of the ability to undertake a particular skill, whether that be practical or cognitive … essentially an observable ability that is able to be quantified at a specific point in time” Participant 37 Responses also included reference to the idea that competence was context and profession specific: “So it depends of course on what the field is, about what competence represents in that field.” Participant 50 Others highlighted links between theoretical understanding; clinical & workplace application; and, job performance, specifically: “Competence is sort of bi-fold … It’s really a demonstration of theoretical understanding and its clinical applications. … We are actually moving the paradigm away from years of practice being a measure to actually the demonstration of clinical contributions and competence.” Participant 6 Understanding of competency-based career frameworks Conversely, the majority of participants admitted a lack of knowledge or understanding of concepts related to competency-based career frameworks. “I don’t think I can help you much here but anyway … I’ve got a vague idea what it is, big public sector essentially” Participant 8 “No I am not really familiar with that sorry.” Participant 32 “No don’t know a great deal … I presume you are going to have a list of competencies as you move up the list. So your career fields and so if you are a junior doctor (cites other examples) has these. Once you’ve ticked them you reach those levels, you’re salary kind of reflects those … you’ve kind of go a bunch of things that you tick off and that determines the level at which you operate.” Participant 20 In respect to those participants who did have an understanding of the concepts associated with a competency-based career framework, this was obviously strongest amongst the UK-based informants working directly with the UK Skills Escalator project. Australian-based understanding of the concept was strongest amongst employers, regulatory and accreditation bodies. Some of these articulated the view that a competency-based framework could be used solely as a workforce instrument; however, others immediately articulated the view that development of a competency-based career framework was both a workforce and an industrial concept/initiative. “The legal structures that you have in the states/jurisdictions actually mitigate against having single nationally agreed terminology … so it would need to have the same kind of radical overhaul that you have done with the registration legislation in the sense that you would have
Page 1 and 2: Listening to our Stakeholders: Anal
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Page 21 and 22: 21 ….. how you design it, how you
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Page 35 and 36: 35 Annex 1 List of Themes: HWA Data
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Page 41 and 42: 41 Annex 5 Recommendations: Nationa
Page 43 and 44: 43 The full citation for the report
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Page 47 and 48: 47 Annex 7 Sample of Competency-bas
Page 49 and 50: 49 Sector Profession Frameworks/Pro
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Page 53: 53 Sharon Brownie, Janelle Thomas,

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